'The cinema, too, has to be destroyed.' Guy Debord
An extremely rare opportunity to see new 35mm prints of films by French writer and theorist Guy Debord, best known for The Society of the Spectacle. Debord was a central figure of the Situationist International (SI), a nihilistic band of agitators whose harsh critiques of capitalist society, inspired by Marxism and Dada, were conveyed through publications, visual art and collective actions. Articulated primarily in the French language, Situationism was relatively ineffective in Britain and America in its time, and though numerous translations are now available, Debord's radical films remain unseen. Far ahead of its time, his technique of détournement assimilates still and moving image-scraps from features, newsreels, printed matter, advertisements and other detritus to satisfy the viewer's 'pathetic need' for cinematic illusion. Propelled by a spoken, monotonous discourse, the images do not so much illustrate the text as underpin it, often maintaining a metaphorical relationship that may not at first be apparent. The two films showing here effectively bookend Debord's involvement with the Situationists, whose politically subversive practice aspired to provoke a revolution of everyday life. Mark Webber
Total running time 125min

Sur le passage de quelques personnes à travers une assez courte unité de temps

France 1959. Dir Guy Debord. 18min.

In the dingy bars of St-Germain-des-Prés, Debord and his associates formed a bohemian underground for whom 'oblivion was their ruling passion.' This anti-documentary captures the SI close to its moment of inception, following their separation from the Lettristes two years prior.

In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

France 1978. Dir Guy Debord. 105min.

'I will make no concessions to the public in this film. I believe there are several good reasons for this decision, and I am going to state them.' And state them he does. Debord's final film is a denunciation of cinema and society at large, an unremitting diatribe against consumption. The SI is equated to a military operation (charge of the light brigade, no less) as its members are presented alongside anarchistic images of D-Day landings, Andreas Baader, Zorro, a comic strip Prince Valliant and quotes from Shakespeare, Ecclesiastes and Omar Khayyám. Debord takes no prisoners in this testament to his vision.